Fallen Hero
by Rael Orion
Summary: Di Gata Defenders AU with Adam being raised with the other defenders and Seth being kidnapped by Brackus but receiving a different treatments than Adam did. Of course, warning for spoilers. SethMel
1. Chapter Zero: Prologue

**Title:** Fallen Hero

**Date first posted:** Jully 28th, 2007  
**Author(s):** Ulti/Rael

**Summary:** Alternate universe in which Adam grows up with the other defenders in the dojo and Seth is kidnapped by Brackus. But there is some changes in the plot. And Seth is 16.  
**Main pairing(s): **The main pairing is Seth/Mel, and a friend of mine convinced me to put yaoi in this one, so Adam/Erik.

**Main character(s):** Seth, Melosa, Adam, Erik, Kara, Adam and others.

**Genre(s):** Adventure, drama, romance, etc.

**Time period:** At the beginning of the Di-gata Defenders journey (Beginning of the show in other words).

**Rating:** I honestly don't know, so I'll just put T.

**Warning(s):** Spoilers, and yaoi if it considered as one, but not until later chapters.

**Completion status:** Working on it.

**Word count:** 2046 words  
**Chapters: **0/?

* * *

Fallen Hero

Prologue

Alnar slowly walked out of the dojo's area, breathing deeply as the fresh air came in contact with him, and as his body became visible to the world once again, as the spell making the dojo invisible was no more having any effects on him. He walked for sometime through the forest, listening to owls here and there, listening to the water when he was near a river. He finally stopped in front of one, looking at the water flowing in it. It was nighttime, and the glittering of the moon in the water was mesmerizing.

He sighed. Casting the spell of binding 2 years ago had created far more damage than the last time, when he was just a kid. He had assisted to the end of the defenders, and was given their children for him to train them for the next time the Megalith was to be sealed again. Alnar was saddened when he thought about the next time the Megalith would have to be sealed again; the 4 kids he was to train looked so innocent, and so pure. If the last spell killed their parents, what could possibly happen to them? They would probably die too, and Alnar could do nothing about it, for he knew the spell had to be cast again. And he hoped beyond belief that this time would really be the last, as he thought the last would.

He sighed again, closing his eyes in exhaustion. These kids were not easy to live with; running around screaming and almost impossible to catch. He smiled a bit at their childishness before he opened his eyes again. He was about to turn around and leave when he saw in the corner of his eyes a whitish a reddish form move a little, and he was sure he heard a moan of pain. Being sure to be able to cast a spell if it was necessary, he slowly approached the lying form, putting one foot in front of the other. He was cautious, not wanting to be careless and end up having to explain to the soon-to-be Di-gata Defenders why his face had 3 red lines across it. He went across the river, walking on rocks not to get wet, before he continued to walk toward the form again. Once he was near enough to make out what the source of the moan was, his eyes went wide, and he forgot about the spell he was ready to cast.

He fixed the form of a young boy, bloodied and only wearing shredded pants. Alnar slowly reached for the young boy's neck with an hand, afraid he would not find what he was looking for. He was relieved when he found a pulse, but at the same time worried at how low it was. Leaving the boy there would result as giving him a death sentence; He would die from blood loss, if no wild animal attacked him before. Alnar was torn between the choices before him; he could either save the boy, but he would risk having this boy tell about the hidden dojo when he would leave, for Alnar could not keep him forever. On the other hand, he would never forgive himself for letting this young boy die, knowing he could have saved his life.

Knowing he could not do otherwise, he bent down, and being careful not to give the poor boy further pain, he put an hand under his legs, the other behind his shoulders, and stood up again, walking toward the invisible dojo.

_One day later…_

Alnar slowly walked out of the medical centre in an hidden part of the dojo. He could not afford having the other children find about the boy he found, for they would never let him leave, so he had decided to hid the boy in another part of the dojo the young defenders didn't know about yet.

Alnar's thoughts turned toward the child he found in the forest. After cleaning his body, he had found that the poor little boy was covered in scars, of all kinds and sizes. They were mostly on his back, but he still had other on different part of his body; one had caught his attention more than the others. Not because of something special about it, but because of its size; it started at his right shoulder and ended at his waist on the left side.

When Alnar reminded that particular scar, something moved inside his stomach, and an unpleasant taste rushed up his throat; he barely had enough time to reach for the nearest washroom before he puked for the he-didn't-remembered-how-many time that day. That scar was so deep; it was a miracle that boy was alive. He looked at the nearest clock and found it was around noon, so he went back to the other children, which were left with his hologram for them not to do anything _too_ stupid. He knew the boy would take at least a week to regain consciousness. He sighed again, and he headed toward the other part of the dojo, unaware of what he would find in the medical centre the next day.

_Said next day…_

Alnar wasn't prepared to what he found that day. He was walking in a long corridor toward the medical centre of the dojo's hidden part, planning on checking up on the kid to make sure everything was okay before he would return to the other children in the dojo. Though, when he entered the medical centre, he froze at the sight of the young boy sitting in his bed, eyes closed, and seeming nervous. Alnar put a foot in the room after the shocked had subdued, and that was enough to get the attention of the little child in the room. As soon as he heard the older man's step in the room, he started panicking, and he almost fell off the bed, staying on it thanks to security bars Alnar had placed there. The boy backed away as far as he could, but Alnar was frozen on the spot. He was wondering how such a young boy could show so much fear, and how he managed to wake up so soon.

Putting his thought aside, he slowly walked toward the frightened boy, being careful not to do any harsh movements. The boy's closed eyes gave a bad feeling to Alnar, and he saw a thin line of tear at the bottom of his closed eyelids. The boy didn't cried though, but he kept his eyes closed, preparing for the usual feeling of pain he was sure he would soon have. He listened at each step the stranger took, wincing each time one of Alnar's feet touch the ground. The sound finally stopped, and the boy was sure the stranger was right next to him.

After some time, still waiting for the blow to come, the boy slowly lifted his head, as if trying to sense the other person's position. Alnar gently put his head on the kid's head, and beside a little wince from him, he stayed calm.

"My name is Alnar," said the tall man. "I found you in the forest and decided to take you here in order to attend to your injuries," explained Alnar to the young boy, who nodded in response. "Now, if you'd let me, I'd like to examine you," said Alnar. The boy nodded again in sign of approval. "Just lay down," said the wizard of yan before the boy obeyed.

Alnar took the bandages off as carefully as he could for the boy not to get any additional injuries. After inspecting the wounds on his back, he continued his inspection on the other parts of his body, and about half an hour, Alnar had finished and told the boy he could sit again if he wished to. As only response, the boy lifted himself with his arms and sat back down on the bed.

"Now, there's just one thing left I'd like to look at," continued Alnar. "Could you open you eyes please?" he asked the boy before him. After some seconds, he saw that the boy was reluctant to do so. "Is there something wrong?" he asked, and the boy lowered his face.

Alnar gave up, not wanting to upset the boy and he told him he would be back soon before he left the room. The boy nodded, and he stayed on the bed, waiting for the man to return. Alnar went to look after the defenders, and once he was sure they were safe with his hologram, he went to get food and returned to the young child in the medical centre.

"I thought you might be hungry, so I brought you some food," said Alnar as he placed the tray of food in front of the little boy. Said boy slowly reached for the food, still holding his eyes closed, and he finally managed to grasp an apple in his hand. Taking it cautiously, he began to eat it, and soon enough, nothing was left of it. In the minutes that followed, he ate a bowl of cereals and a toast, before he stopped eating, leaving 3 quarters of the food untouched. "If you are still hungry, don't hesitate to ask okay?" said Alnar. The boy opened his mouth, and for the first time since he found the boy 2 days ago, he heard his voice.

"…Thank… you," said the boy, his voice hoarse, and Alnar could only guess why it was like this; he must have screamed so much his vocal cords were affected. Putting that awful thought aside, he left the room to let the boy sleep, planning on coming back the next day to learn more about him, and maybe he would manage to get the boy to let him inspect his eyes. At that thought, he started wondering why he had not been allowed to look at them, but he put that thought aside, sure he would find the answer soon enough.

He came back the next day, and even though the boy was startled when he came in, he didn't stay in that fearful state as long as he did the day before. Alnar walked toward him, and stopped once he was next to the boy. He was going to get straight to the point.

"Listen, I need you to open your eyes. I must see if your sight is damaged," said Alnar, earning a sorrowful expression from the boy.

"My sight is not damaged," he told the professor, his voice less hoarse than before, but filled with emotional pain. Alnar looked at him with an interested but frowning expression on his face.

"Really? How can you be so sure about that?" he asked. As only answer from the boy, he slowly lifted his chin, and his eyelids lifted, his eyes meeting with Alnar's shocked gaze; the adult could discern grey in the youth's eyes, but they were completely covered by a thin veil of white.

"My sight is not damaged, it is inexistent," explained the boy to the shocked professor. It took a little time for him to recover, but once he did, Alnar couldn't help but feel a feeling of disgust and anger toward the ones that did all of this to him, whoever they were. But he remembered where he was, and who he was talking to, and the sadness came back to him.

"I'm sorry… I didn't know…" apologized Alnar, feeling guilt for forcing the child to remember the events that probably led him to the lost of his sight. The boy seemed to wonder about it for some time, but a small smile finally showed on his face.

"Don't worry about it. It's in the past, and I'm used to it by now. I'm not going to cry," said the boy, to Alnar's surprise, but he slowly smiled himself.

"I'm glad to hear that," said Alnar. The little boy stretched his hand, and Alnar took it with his own.

"My name is Seth," said the dark blue haired boy, and Alnar vowed never to forget that name. Never.

End Of Chapter

* * *

Lame, I know, but I'm sure there is worst in the world… Well… I hope… 


	2. Chapter One: New begginings

_**Fallen Hero**_

"Great energy lay locked in the very bedrock of Rados," started a voice. "The Di-gata stones were forged from this living rock, and…"

"Shut the hell up and let me write my story!" I said.

"But it's part of the…"

"I said shut up!" I yelled. Show's narrator grumbles. "Good. Now, with the story," did I continued.

"By the way, some of you may not like violence too much, so if you don't, just skip the Dakor part," I finished.

* * *

_Chapter One: New Beginnings_

Alnar sighed as he remembered his old friend. Today was the same day he had left 10 years ago. Even with his age, Seth had been, in the 7 days he stayed in the dojo, a much-appreciated companion to the now holographic Alnar. And he had kept his vow; never had he forgot the name of the kid he had rescued a long time ago from the fate's cruel claws. During that week, he had often talked with Seth, and Alnar had learned to never judge a person by his look, because even if he was just 6 years old and that he had been tortured almost to death, the blind boy kept smiling, even if his smiles were weak, if I am allowed to use that term. And Alnar was fascinated by how mature the young child he was talking to was. Seth was really smart, maybe too much to be natural for a kid, but Alnar could do nothing about it. Sighing, he watched as a grey-eyed boy and a blue-eyed girl prepared to battle.

"Ready Defenders?" started Alnar, being in the middle of the 2 teens. "Let the training begin!" he finally announced, as the 2 threw their stones.

"Cast the power!" they said at the same time. The boy threw 1 Dako shield stone, as the girl threw 2 Yan and 1 Sum shield stones. Alnar looked at the boy.

"Only 1 shield stone Adam?" he started. "Your attack will be stronger but you've left yourself weak on defence," said Alnar.

"Weak!" he said with a laugh. "I'm just trying to give Mel a fighting chance," he said, grinning.

"Oh, how sweet are you…" she said, a thankful expression on her face. "… not," she finished with a grin of her own. "Drakor, Sub-zero," she said, and her necklace glowed a bright blue, before a little blue and white dragon with a Yan sign on its chest appeared on her shoulder.

"2 can play at that game," said Adam, showing a green stone with a red Infinis sigil on it. "Firefox, ignites!" he yelled, throwing the stone. Flames appeared, turning into a 2-legs fox. After a command from its master, Firefox used its tail to send a powerful wave of fire toward Mel's shield, successfully hitting it.

"Not bad," said Mel. "My turn," she continued. "Drakor, chillbane!" she yelled, sending her guardian to attack. Once in the air, the dragon sent a ray of ice from its tail, which went straight at Adam's shield.

"Ha, not even a scratch," started Adam, before his shield fogged. "Huh?" he said once it was completely covered and impossible to see through.

"Glacial flow!" she yelled, throwing one Sum warrior stone and 2 yan booster stones. The attack was aimed at Firefox, and the guardian ended up covered in snow, under Melosa's laughter. Adam, whose shield now had a little hole cleared of fog for him to see, had an annoyed expression on his face.

* * *

_Meanwhile, in the order of Infinis's HQ…_

"Now I've got you right where I want you," said a… special voice. A man stood in front of 2 little greens hologram, watching the one with an human form beat the monkey-like one. "Yes, victory!" he yelled happily before he realized someone was standing behind him. He briefly inspected said someone's arms. "No," he said. He turned around to see a tall white-haired man standing there. "Ah! L-lord Brackus! Hehehe…" he said, fear showing in his eyes.

"The order of Infinis is finally poised to regain control of the realm," he said, making a pause, before emphasising on the 4 next words. "And you play games?!" he said with an angry tone, making the more little man shiver.

"Games? What? Me?" he started looking away from the taller man. "Ah! No! Never!" he said, before the other man interrupted him.

"Enough you fool!" he said with anger. "Report," he ordered. The other man turned around and started to work on some kind of machine.

"Well, Sir," he started, pushing various buttons, and making an image appear. "Our spies have searched for almost the entire realm," he started. "They've looked in every track, under every stone and, well, if you ask my opinion, we…" he continued before he was interrupted again.

"Silence!" ordered the man with an Infinis sigil on his forehead. "Need I remind you that I commend the order of Infinis, not you?" he started.

"Huh, yes Sir," said the shorter man, lowering his face to look at the ground.

"I must have the Purestones to ensure the Megalith's return," said Brackus, who was now further away from the other man in the room. "Find me those Purestones," he said, leaving the room. "Or else!" he finally said before the door shut behind him. Brackus walked in a row made by his servants, everyone of them bowing before him. "I know you're out there Di-gata Defenders," he said while walking. "And I will find you," he finished. Flinch, as for him, thought out loud.

"I miss that child," he started. "At least, it was on him that Brackus was evacuating all his anger, not on me," he finished.

* * *

_Somewhere in Dakor…_

A cloaked figure, perched high on some kind of mountain, listened carefully to each sound in his surroundings. An eagle by there, a rat the other way. But what he was really listening to was the sound of the pub below him, about 15 meters lower than he was. As a man, seemingly a rougon, entered a pub, looking suspicious, the figure smiled, rising up. Jumping a seemingly inhuman distance, the person opened his cape, letting him falling the last meters softly. Dusting his cloak, he entered the pub, the one keeping its entrance too amazed by what he just did to think about stopping him. Inside, everyone looked at the newcomer. But their glares never reached the man, and as he kept smiling, words none of them would ever forget slipped out of his mouth.

"Let the party begin," said the man, his hands glowing.

* * *

_Back with the Defenders…_

Kara watched through the glass as Mel managed to knock Adam off his feet. "Nice one Mel," she said. "Hey, V," she said as her guardian flew around her and she laughed when V-Moth hit the glass. "Careful V-Moth," she said.

"Earth to Kara," Erik started, perking his head out of behind his book. "The whole point to study here is to, you know, study," he continued, before he returned to his book. Kara sighed.

"All we ever do is read about the outside world," she started, getting her tone higher on the word read. "I want to get out and live it!" she said, taking a little spider in her hand and looking at it. "You know?" Erik closed his eyes in exhaustion.

"Kara," he said, looking at her. "You know the drill," he said, looking back at his book. "The dome of concealment is in place for our protection," he continued. "No one gets in or out until our training is complete, and" but he didn't finished, as he saw a spider right in front of him. Letting out a little scream of fear and/or surprise, he fell off his chair and onto the ground behind him, under Kara's laughter.

"How can you be afraid of a tinkling (not sure about that either) little spider," said Kara. "It's so cute," she continued.

"Something about 6 eyes, 8 legs and hairy thorax is just… makes me freezing," he continued.

"So, will this be on the test?" said Kara, taking Erik's gauntlet in her hands.

"Oh, that? It's a…" he muttered. "Hum… Busted…" he admitted in defeat.

"What is this thing anyway?" said Kara, still holding said thing.

"That, is a remote energy manipulation gauntlet," said Erik with a grin, walking toward Kara and taking the gauntlet. "I can use it to launch my Di-gata stones," he continued. "Watch," he said, preparing to use it. "Robotus, activate," he said, pushing a button, and making a green stone with a yellow Ogama sigil on it being thrown by the gauntlet, and Robotus, Erik's guardian, appeared.

"Cool!" said Kara.

"And, I can control all Robotus's exterior armour functions," he continued, pushing some others buttons on his gauntlet. Robotus's mechanical wings spread, and by doing so, knocked all the bookcases one after the other, like dominos.

"You, are so in trouble," said Kara, laughing a little and looking at Erik.

* * *

_Back with Adam and Melosa…_

"I'm done fooling around Mel," said Adam.

"Time to wrap this up," said Mel. "Drakor, Hill Breath (That's what I think I heard)!" yelled Mel, sending her guardian toward Adam, and once the dragon was high enough, what looked like shards of snow came out of its mouth and toward Adam.

"Spinning Doom!" yelled Adam, sending a Nega warrior and Dako booster stones which, once combined, formed a little spinning disk, which, unfortunately could do nothing against Mel's attack, making Mel laugh.

"Too many for ya?" she said, as her attack hit Adam's shield, destroying it. "Yes! I finally won!" she said happily.

"I wouldn't be so sure," said Adam with a grin, pointing up with a finger. Adam's Spinning Doom came back into action, heading toward Drakor.

"Drakor, look out!" said Mel, before her dragon was sent back to her necklace. Adam's attack hit Mel's shield once, and when it hit her shield again, she was sent flying backward.

"Yes! Haha!" exclaimed Adam with a triumphant look.

"Adam," said Alnar.

"What?" asked Adam. "Too much?" he continued before an earthquake began. "Whoa!" he said.

"Oh, no!" said Alnar, and Adam and Mel looked at each other.

* * *

_Back with the order of Infinis… again…_

Brackus stood in front of a green screen, looking at it. Flinch was kneeling behind him.

"Lord Brackus," he said, and Brackus sighed, annoyed.

"Don't you knock?" he said, exasperated. Flinch stood up.

"There' uh… no door," he said. Brackus turned around and walked toward Flinch, stopping in front of him.

"What," he started. "do," he continued, getting his face closer to Flinch, who backed a bit. "you," he continued, his tone getting stronger. "want?!" he finally yelled, making Flinch's teeth chatter.

"There was a massive energy spiking in an undefined sector of the Amican Forest!" said Flinch as fast as possible, before he fell on the floor with a yelp of surprise, earning a smile from Brackus.

"That's good," said Brackus with an evil smile. "That's very good," he continued.

* * *

_Still in Dakor's pub…_

The former pub was now a battlefield, where only 17 persons of those who were in the pub before the battle continued to face the cloaked person. Hiding behind a table, the figure smirked. He rose up, his hand glowing. He dodged all the attacks aimed at him before he spoke.

"Who in here can tell me what 1 divided by 2 give?" he asked, surprising the other persons in the bar. One man, however, rose up, before speaking loudly.

"What kind of question is that?" he laughed, before answering. "It gives 2 halves you idiot!" yelled the man looking at the closed eyes of the man in front of him, before his expression changed to one of pure fear. The others in the room watched in horror as his body slowly separated into 2, a clean cut in the middle, before falling on each side. And they looked even more scared as they saw the smile on the figure's face.

"So… who's next?" he asked.

* * *

_Back with the defenders again…_

A crow-like bird landed on the roof of the now destroyed dojo. In said dojo was Alnar and the 4 defenders talking.

"Young defenders," started Alnar. "I had hope this day would not come until your training was complete," he continued. "The ground quake this afternoon is a sign that the Megalith, Nazmul's cold and vicious guardian, is growing stronger," said Alnar, as he showed the defenders an image of the Megalith in a bubble-like thing of light he made in his hands.

"Stronger?" said Adam with a look of disbelief. "But… I thought our parents defeated the Megalith," continued the young leader.

"Indeed Adam," said Alnar, as the image of the 5 previous defenders appeared in the bubble Alnar held in his hands. "Your parents made the ultimate sacrifice. This allowed the Wizards of Yan to cast the spell of binding, which confined the monstrous Megalith within the 4 Purestones, but…" continued Alnar, before Erik cut him off.

"But?" said Erik, scratching the back of his neck. "I don't like it when there's a but," said Erik, looking at Kara who looked back at him.

* * *

_Outside the dojo…_

"I knew I wouldn't like the but…" said Erik, walking along the trail outside of the dojo, leaving behind what was left of the "snake" they had just destroyed. Adam was the first to spoke.

"Well, look on the bright side," he said, earning a stare from Erik.

"Which "bright side" are you talking about?" asked Erik. Adam made a nervous smile before answering.

"We'll no longer have to stay hours in the library to study?" he tried. Kara giggled, Erik looked back at the ground and Mel rolled her eyes. "What? What did I say?" he asked, oblivious.

"Nothing Adam. Nothing," answered Mel, continuing to walk.

**_End of Chapter _**

* * *

I finally decided to write this chapter. I know it's not a great one either, but it's still not that bad… right?


	3. Chapter Two: Meeting

**_Fallen Hero_**

Seth: You… are evil…

Rael: How so?

Mel: Maybe you didn't notice, but you just made him cut someone in 2 and smile at it.

Rael: … So what's your point?

Seth: What's her point?! You make me look like a psycho! That's the point!

Rael: That's not how I see it.

Mel: Then tell us!!! Hands are glowing

Rael: You do realize that since I'm the God of Oblivion, you can't do anything about it right?

Mel: Hey, now that I think about it, isn't Seth spoiling it by telling the readers that it's him?

Seth: C'mon Mel, who hadn't figured it out?

Rael: Like he said.

Erik: Why are you writing this like this instead of with ""?

Rael: Because I felt like it. Now on with the story. And while I'm at it, if you don't like violence, just read the last paragraph of the Dakor part. Well… finally, just skip whatever has nothing to do with the Defenders if you don't like violence (But you'll miss most of the parts with Seth). realizes he should just put the rating to M and be done with it.

__

**

* * *

**

**In the last chapter…**

Outside the dojo… 

"I knew I wouldn't like the but…" said Erik, walking along the trail outside of the dojo, leaving behind what was left of the "snake" they had just destroyed. Adam was the first to spoke.

"Well, look on the bright side," he said, earning a stare from Erik.

"Which "bright side" are you talking about?" asked Erik. Adam made a nervous smile before answering.

"We'll no longer have to stay hours in the library to study?" he tried. Kara giggled, Erik looked back at the ground and Mel rolled her eyes. "What? What did I say?" he asked, oblivious.

"Nothing Adam. Nothing," answered Mel, continuing to walk.

* * *

**_Chapter Two: Meeting_**

Four figures calmly walked through a dense forest. The tallest one was complaining about it, the youngest was laughing about it, while the other 2 simply continued to advance through the branches and leaves.

"Stop complaining Erik, will you. You're the oldest after all," said Adam, getting annoyed.

"Then do something about it, you're the leader after all," retorted Erik, making the 2 girls snicker.

"He's got a point Adam. You do are the leader. If you want him to stop complaining, you can't do nothing and hope he will," said Mel.

"Why don't you try that stone Alnar gave us? It's been a week, and I can't help but wonder what it does," said Erik, changing the subject. Adam laughed.

"You really want to?" he said, taking it out. "Then try it out yourself," he said, tossing it to him. Erik caught it easily, but before he could try it, Adam spoke. "For all we know, it could be explosive, so do whatever you want with it," he finished with a smirk. Erik stopped dead, and then threw the rock back at Adam, who caught it with a laugh.

"Hum… eeeeh… let's keep it for later, in case, eh, that it's a one-time thing that disappears once you use it, you know…"said Erik, trying pitifully not to look too idiotic. The others' comments were formulated by their smirks.

They continued like that for some time, until they eventually hit a clearing, stone sticking out of the ground all around.

"At last!" yelled Erik happily. "A break!" he yelled again.

"Don't jinx us Erik!" said Kara with a worried expression.

"Oh, c'mon Kara! Who believes in such…" he started, before several thieves encircled them, leaving no way to retreat. "…silly rumours…" Kara glared at him.

"Give us all your stones and you shall be left unharmed," said who the Defenders supposed was their leader. Being short-tempered, Adam didn't let it slide.

"Who do you think we are?! Scums like you?!" he yelled.

"_Please make him not short-tempered too, please make him not short-tempered too, please make him not short-tempered too…_" pleaded Mel in her mind. Even though they were the Di-gata Defenders, they didn't need a whole bunch of thieves as enemies right from the start.

"Who you calling scums, you with the weird hairstyle?!" yelled the unfortunately _short-tempered_ leader.

"Weird hairstyle?! At least I have hair!" yelled Adam.

"Once we'll be finished with you, I'll shave them off your head! Get them!" yelled the leader to his men. The Defenders automatically raised shields. The battle began.

"You're happy now?" asked a frustrated blue-haired girl, looking sideway at the grey-eyed boy next to her, who answered with a sheepish smile.

"Look on the bright side of things. Their attacks are doing absolutely nothing to our shields!" said Erik. Then, he readied his gauntlet.

"No Erik, don't!" yelled Adam, but it was too late, as his attack rebounded off a rock and back at them, hitting their shields. "We need more space to cast our attacks. It's too narrow here! Mel, summon Draykor. She's the only one small enough to fit in here," said Adam.

"What about Firefox?" she asked, before summoning her guardian.

"He still hasn't recovered from my fight with Erik yesterday," explained Adam. Just as he said this, a roar-like sound came from the sky. Looking up, he could only catch a glimpse of Draykor before she returned to Mel's amulet. "Okay, now we're petty much dead," said Adam.

"The stone! Use the stone! It's now or never!" yelled Kara, whose shield was beginning to weaken. Adam quickly pushed the stone out of his pocket and pressed on it as hard as he could. Once he estimated he had pressed enough, he looked at it, only to see that the little henge on it, which he had spotted the first time, was now glowing a soft white, contrasting with the black colour of the stone itself.

* * *

_Dakor's pub…_

The cloaked figure walked in the pub, or what was left of it. In it was waiting a man, holding a suitcase in a hand and a long-range firearm (commonly called an old-fashioned gun on that planet in that distant dimension called Earth) in the other hand. The man quickly threw the suitcase to the cloaked figure, who let it fall on the floor. He walked over it and made his way to the man who had thrown it.

"What's the meaning of this, I…" started the man.

"Shut up! What I wanted this suitcase to be filled with doesn't make the kind of echo that this thing did. Now I guess you'll have to pay for trying to fool me," said the cloaked figure, before disappearing. The man barely had time to think before he fell lifelessly to the floor, his throat showing the tip of a blade. The figure knelt, and took the dagger out of the corpse before using his clothes to clean it.

Just as he was about to put the dagger back to its place, he received a little shock in his left arm. Arching his eyebrows, he quickly put the dagger in his cloak and let his right hand slide over the surface of the gauntlet on his left arm, which had caused the shock. He finally found what he was looking for and, taking 2 stones in his now glowing hand, he cast them, and a portal of swirling black and red appeared. He stepped in, leaving no trace he was ever there behind him (beside the obvious matter (the demolished pub and its content by example)).

* * *

_Back with the Defenders…_

The man reappeared right behind the lines of thieves, who were too occupied by the Defenders to notice him. He sighed before taking a stone from his stone holster. The Sum and Infinis henge on it shone brightly. He prepared to use it, his hand glowing. The last of the Defenders' shield finally broke down, and it was right at that moment that the cloaked figure cast the stone.

"Sleeping veil!" he yelled. Not 5 seconds later were all the thieves fast asleep, some falling off the trees like little dead birdies (a/n: WTF? O.o Where did that come from?). The Defenders were in shock to say the least. The stone reappeared in his hand, and putting it back in its place, he slowly walked toward the Defenders, opting for a carefree attitude for the moment.

The Defenders watched as a cloaked figure, his arms put comfortably behind his head, walked lazily into their line of vision, out of the shadows of the trees. He seemed to look down at one of the sleeping thief, and with a shrug, kicked him in the ribs and walked toward them again. Adam, the most suspicious one, stood on his guard.

"Who are you?" he asked carefully. The figure stopped.

"I'm the one who just saved your ass. And you are?" he asked back. Adam was pissed again.

"What kind of answer is that? We are the Di-Gata Defenders, so show us some respect!" yelled Adam. The stranger immediately lost his carefree attitude, replaced by his natural one. This didn't pass unnoticed by the Defenders.

"The Di-Gata Defenders? Would you happen to know Alnar?" he asked. Adam narrowed his eyes.

"What if?" he asked. No answer came. Instead, the figure extended his left arm. Almost instantly, the rock in Adam's hand flew off and ended in the stranger's open hand, who inspected it right away, searching for something. "Hey, that's ours! Give it back!" yelled Adam. The figure turned back at him.

"As I thought, this is the stone I gave to Alnar all those years ago. This means I can trust you. My name is Seth," said Seth, surprising the Defenders. "I made this stone years ago, and gave one to Alnar in gratitude for something he did for me, so that if he ever needed help, he simply had to press it to activate the sensors in it, which would send me a signal. That's how I knew you needed help and came here," said Seth. He slowly slid the part covering his head down, revealing to the others his face, dark blue hair, and his grey eyes, and if someone was attentive enough, he could see the thin scar he had across his left eye. The four of them were too shocked by the situation to react. Arching an eyebrow, he slowly walked toward their frozen forms. Once he reached them, he flicked Adam on the forehead, earning a reaction he was hoping for.

"Hey! What was that for?!" he said, rubbing his forehead. The others, coming back to their senses, snickered.

"That was to get you out of your stillness," answered Seth. "Anyway, take the stone back, in case you'd need me again," he said while throwing the stone at the Defenders. Mel caught it with her hands and put it in one of her pockets.

"Thanks," she said. The others followed her example. Then, Seth felt a shock in his arm again.

"Look, I'm in a hurry, so if you want to go to Amos-Yan," he started, surprising everyone," you should hurry over the bridge a few miles away from here. That thing is old, and I doubt it'll last much longer. Now, goodbye," he finished. He turned his back to them, casting 2 stones he had taken out of his stone holster. A portal, this time black and blue, appeared, to the Defenders' astonishment. Once he had put his hood back on, Seth stepped through it, and he disappeared, as well as the portal seconds later. Erik was the first one to come to his senses.

"Wow… that was…" he started, before Kara cut him off.

"That was awesome!" she yelled in her usual cheerful tone. "Did you see how he took out all the thieves all at once? And how he just disappeared in the portal? It was amazing!" she said. Strangely enough, Mel and Adam couldn't help but to think the same thing, as well as Erik.

"That's right. I've got to ask him about the portal thing though," he continued pensively. He started to walk again, followed by the other 3 witnesses of the uncommon exploit that had just happened.

* * *

_Yantos…_

Seth walked out of the portal, which disappeared behind him, the 2 stones he used to create it coming back in his right, open hand. He was in front of decrepit old temple ruins. But that didn't matter to the blind boy, as he unnaturally, and at a high speed, travelled across the rock pillars and walls that had succumbed to the weather over time without difficulties. After about 30 seconds, he was in front of the entrance to what would be an underground labyrinth, where, or so it seems, one of his stones, so automatically one of the person trustworthy enough to have one, was in need for his help. Without waiting a second, he rushed inside, preparing himself for what was to come.

* * *

_Ban-Yani Swamp…_

"Next time we cross a bridge, I'll go first," mumbled Melosa, waiting for Draykor to come back, hopefully with V-Moth. She sweared this would be the last time she would fall off a bridge.

* * *

_The 3 other Defenders…_

"It feels so good, this silence," said Erik dreamily. Kara laughed at him. Adam, even though he hid it, was still a bit worried about Mel.

"No_, she'll be all right, it's Mel after all,_" he reassured himself in his head, before continuing to walk with the other.

* * *

_Underground Labyrinth…_

Turning around the corner, Seth immediately sensed the putrid smell of the corpse on the ground in the middle of the giant room he knew it was in. He smelled the air, trying to find the smell of anything that could represent a threat, but the odour coming from the dead person lying on the ground was covering the entire room. He then used his sense of hearing, but no sound came to him. Judging it was safe, he quickly made his way to the center of the room. It was clear it was a trap, but he wanted what the man that was laying on the cold floor might have on him. Once he reached him, he quickly inspected the bloody corpse, and sighed, finding nothing on him that he needed, only his beacon. Then, footsteps were heard, lots of them. He was soon surrounded. A man stepped forward.

"Looking for this?" he said, showing him a red stone, with a Yin and Infinis gold henge on it. Seth growled.

"Give that back, it's mine," he said, dangerously, getting back up to try and intimidate him. His tactic worked on everyone… safe his target.

"You think that's going to work on me?" he said. "Don't make me laugh! That's nothing compared to what I can do," he threatened. Seth saw his key to getting what he wanted right there.

"I'm not scared of empty words," he said, adding a somewhat lazy tone to his voice. It worked…

"You little?! Get him!" the man yelled, and his army charged at Seth.

… a little bit too well…

**_End of Chapter

* * *

_**

Another crapy chapter by none other than me! Seriously, I think I made this one a long one, a not too bad one, and I hope you liked it. So… would you mind leaving me a review? Please? 


	4. Chapter Three: Swamp and Monastery

**_Fallen Hero _**

Rael: And now the long awaited new chapter of Fallen Hero!

Seth: Subtle… Really subtle…

Rael: Why, thanks. You don't know how great you are to me Seth.

Seth: You're sarcastic… right?

Rael: Was it THAT obvious?

Seth: …

Rael: He he…

Long silence…

Rael: Hum, Melosa?

Mel: Yes?

Rael: The useless overdid disclaimer along with the "Here it comes" presentation please?

Mel: Oh, right. Rael owns nothing. Also, here it comes!

Rael: … On purpose?

Mel: Yep!

Rael: (growls)

Erik: Herecomesthechapternowbye! (drags Mel and Seth away from Rael)

* * *

In the last chapter…

"Give that back, it's mine," he said, dangerously, getting back up to try and intimidate him. His tactic worked on everyone… safe his target.

"You think that's going to work on me?" he said. "Don't make me laugh! That's nothing compared to what I can do," he threatened. Seth saw his key to getting what he wanted right there.

"I'm not scared of empty words," he said, adding a somewhat lazy tone to his voice. It worked…

"You little?! Get him!" the man yelled, and his army charged at Seth.

… a little bit too well…

* * *

_**Chapter 3: Swamp and Monastery**_

Ban-Yani Swamp…

Mel walked along the little "islands" emerging form the would-be-called water of the swamp. Draykor had met with her some hours ago, bringing with her the Yin guardian stone that contained V-Moth. She had disappeared almost right after giving it to Mel, returning to the necklace, leaving the blue-haired girl to herself. As said earlier, it had been hours since she had entered the swamp, and now, she was beginning to get thirsty, hungry, and her feet were killing her.

"Can't somebody just appear and get me out of here?" she began to rant. She didn't like to do that much, but the circumstances were more than enough to cover for it. Too bad for her, it seems, as her wish would be answered. At least, half of it.

* * *

Underground Labyrinth…

Seth jumped, easily avoiding a bolder sent to him by one of the remaining bandits left in the large room. He had, surprisingly, at least to his enemies, managed to take down three forth of the army against him. It was a fact that it was no easy task to do that. Lucky Seth, all the stone casters either tired out fast, went out of stones fast, were only slightly above average in experience, or simply knocked out too fast to do anything. The main problem, though, was their leader, who, or so it seems, wasn't as pitifully equipped or trained as his subordinates. He seemed to have a large amount of stones, powerful ones at that, that he used more efficiently than the others, and he had a lot more stamina that most people in the room, safe Seth, of course. Seth had caught that right at the beginning. It would have been smart to simply go straight for the leader, but the huge number of people there made it impossible to do. Instead, he had decided to take them all out. This way, he could even loot some stones in the end, which would probably be worth it. He was taken out of his thoughts by a quickly avoided rain of stalactite. That, unfortunately, marked the end of Seth's advantages, all overwhelmed by the giant disadvantage coming in the form of bats, awoken from their sleep by their "perch" falling toward Seth. But more precisely, it was their ultrasonic cries that made him fall to his knees, gripping his ears with his hands. Even thought he couldn't see, he felt the smile creeping on his opponent's face.

"Afraid of bats, eh?" he said. Seth managed to sweatdrop. This guy was an imbecile.

"You should be the one afraid," started Seth, slowly coming to his feet, under the careful looks of the remaining forces of the nameless leader, now called Pete by the all-mighty forces of the God of Oblivion. "because now, none of you will be allowed to leave this place alive," finished Seth, taking a stone from his holster. He held out a Dako stone. "Say hello, and goodbye, to my friend here, who, thanks to the unique minerals in this cave, will give you… _the time of your life,_" said Seth with irony, before sending his guardian forth. "Kragus! Take form!" yelled the blind teenager, before a red light came rushing from his disappeared stone toward the ground, making a big hole in it. Seconds later, a giant black rock guardian, with Dako sigils on him, came bursting out of the earth, sending shivers of terror to the now fear stricken people still conscious. With all the commotion, though, nobody saw the bat flying down at a fast speed toward Seth, fangs ready to bite.

* * *

Order of Infinis's HQ…

It was a calm evening in the usually crowded head quarters of the Order of Infinis. Probably because most of the people, due to the stress of the previous days, thanks to Brackus, were sound asleep in their bed, some sleeping dreamlessly, some making nightmares about giant flesh eating squirrels.

For one man, though, it was more of a somehow _nostalgic_ moment. Not evenings in general, but this one in particular. It made him think about the past more than usual. This man had white hair, olive green eyes, and a tendency to make a giant snake electrocute you.

Yes, this man was Brackus. He would usually be preparing plans to gather the Pure Stones, prepare war strategies, or think about overthrowing Nazmul, but tonight, he was simply… not in the mood. He was walking along the corridors of Nazmul's Keep. He slowly made his way deeper and deeper into the fortress, each foot leading him closer to his destination. After a long 20 minutes of walk, he finally reached the division of the Keep that seemed to call out to him; the prison.

This part of the Keep was kept underground, for obvious reasons. One of them, by example, could be to keep any unwanted sound, like screams, inside the place, not to alarm anyone outside. Not that much people could, seeing as countless people protected the Keep. But since this was first built in a time of _relative_ peace, no scream was to leave the torture chambers… I mean the teashop… Yeah… You get the point.

Brackus was, as a matter of fact, interested into going to that part of the prison. He made his way through halls, corridors, and such, until he finally reached the torture chambers. He pushed open the door. Not having been here in a while, he was unprepared to the disgusting smell of blood that came right to his nose. Through the horrible smell, an evil smirk made it's way to the warlord's lips.

* * *

Ban-Yani Swamp…

Okay. She had NO idea how it happened, and for the moment, it was one of the last things she cared about. The fact was, she had fallen to the ground behind her, her stones were taking a swim into the swamp's mud, and 3 frog-like things were in front of her, armed, and a twinkle in their eyes had Mel shuddering involuntarily.

So to say, her current situation pretty much sucked. Add to that her twisted ankle, aching legs and painful headache, and she had nothing left but her arms to do anything. Arms she couldn't really fight with in her current state. Why had this happened to her? For a moment, she wished it could have happened to someone else, before quickly remembering that she wouldn't want someone else to suffer in her place.

Funny thing was, not even had one frog taken a step that all 3 of them fell to the floor. Melosa's shocked eyes looked up to meet a white veil. Her shocked face turned into one of interrogation, as she watched the dark blue haired teen stand in front of her, his arms inside his cloak and his hood on his head. With an eyebrow raised, she spoke.

"Seth? What are you doing here?" she asked. She saw him sigh. Then, he took one of his arms out of the cloak, and with his other one, he pulled back his sleeve, showing to Mel the red blinking dot on his armband.

She furrowed her brows for some seconds, before realization dawned upon her. She slowly, and painfully, reached out to one her back pockets, only to find the beacon in it, the white Yan Altas henge glowing lightly. She blushed in embarrassment.

"Oh, sorry for that… I must have landed on it when I fell earlier," she explained quickly. She swore he rolled his eyes. Her annoyance made its appearance. "Look, I'm sorry to have bothered you for nothing, so no need to roll your eyes," she said for her defence. He smirked, and she was at the same time curious and more annoyed. "What?"

"Well, I was rolling my eyes at the fact that you didn't listened to me and must've crossed the bridge at the pace of turtles anyway, but if you want, I can leave you here and go back to what I was doing," said Seth, _thought I can't since they're all…_

"Yeah, do that. I'm well on my own!" said Mel, before trying to stand up… only to fall back in the mud, groaning in pain. Seth looked as if he just started to listen.

"Sorry, you were saying?" he said to Mel. She grunted, looking away in embarrassment. He smiled, before putting his hands in the mud near her. She was curious as to what he was doing, until his hands came out of the mud, holding her stones. He handed them over to her. She took them and put them in her stone pocket on her left shoulder.

"Thanks," she muttered. She was about to try to stand up again when she saw Seth moving to her side. Without warning, he put an arm under her legs, the other behind her back, and he stood up again with her in his arms. She blushed heavily. "What do you think you're doing?!" she asked, loudly. Seth grunted.

"Unless you want to stay in this mud and die from either hunger, thirst, or other things like the ones from earlier," Seth started, pointing to the unconscious creatures in the mud." I suggest you hold on and let me carry you to a somehow safer place. How about that?" he said, giving her a little smile to make her understand he wanted to help her. She took some seconds to think about it, before she nodded at him. She immediately wanted to smack her forehead. _He's blind Mel! He can't see you nodding_… her thoughts were interrupted when Seth started to walk into the swamp. _Okay, that's weird. I'll have to ask him about it later._ She gave a small shudder at the fact that he knew she nodded. Seth, thinking she was just cold, held her tighter, making the injured girl blush again.

* * *

South of Ban-Yani Swamp…

It had been 2 hours since they left the 3 creatures unconscious, and they had only headed south, the opposite of the blue eyed girl' destination. She, of course, tried to tell Seth when she had realized it, but his only response was to tell her that he knew. She hadn't tried to start a conversation ever since. She only looked around, in case other creatures like the ones from earlier decided to attack them. One thing she noticed, though, was the continuous tired expression he seemed to have. But all he did was to walk into mud and carry her. So to say, when it flashed in her mind, she was a little flushed. She couldn't be that heavy, could she?

Before she could ponder on that any longer, Seth let out a sigh. She looked at him, then, seeing his relieved expression, looked around. There was nothing unusual, even though she did felt some kind of energy coming from the now more narrow walls. Seth walked toward what she assumed was the end of the Ban-Yani Swamp. She was about to see what was at the end when Seth suddenly turned and walked straight into one of the mountainside. Mel was a bit shocked, to say the least, when instead of her being ¨squashed¨ against it, she went right through it, followed by Seth.

"What the…" she started, but gasped when she looked at the interior of the mountainside. She nearly fainted. There, in front of her, was what looked like a house. And a comfortable one at that. The walls were nicely cut into the stone, leaving a flat, smooth surface. Same went for the floor and the ceiling. There was a table, a bed, what seemed to be a bowl of fresh fruits on the table, and a back room, which she supposed was the bathroom. She couldn't believe it, it was impossible. And what caught her attention the most was the bookshelf on one of the walls. Seth was blind. How could he read? He was taken from her thoughts by Seth's voice.

"I'll explain later. Right now, would you mind pushing the button next to the entrance? I can't really do it with you in my arms," said Seth. She did as he was told, too surprised to even think. The door closed silently, and Seth took off his shoes (Before you ask, never forget you can take off your shoes with your feet alone. If you didn't know then… Well, now you know XD). Mel did the same, though with more difficulty. She was his guest, or something like that, after all. It was simple politeness. It did occur to her that her clothing was still going to soil whatever he would put her down on, but what could she do?

"So…" she started. She decided to ask him directly. "I know it's rude but, If you're blind, why is there a bookshelf in here?" she asked. It really bugged her. As an answer, he set her down on his bed, which she found rather comfortable, and went to pick a book off the bookshelf. He ran his fingers on the books' cover, until he stopped on a little orange book. He smirked.

While Seth went to the bookshelf, Melosa took her time to look around a bit. There wasn't much decoration in here. As said earlier, all there was in the place was only what was needed to call this a home, plus the bookshelf. It was then that she saw Seth coming toward the table. He took a chair before coming back toward her. He set the chair next to the bed, sat on it and showed her the book.

"What is unusual about this book?" he asked her. It was a simple question.

"Well, there's nothing written on it," she said.

"Correct," said Seth. "Now take off your glove and give me your hand," he told her. She was a bit surprised, but did it anyway. He took her hand and put it on the cover. He moved it a bit on it. "Feel anything?" asked the blind boy.

"I-I do," said Mel, surprised. There was a slight relief on it. "What is it?" she asked. Seth answered her calmly.

"It's called Braille," he explained. "I'm not the first blind person in the world. And someone before me thought it'd be smart to make a writing blind people can understand," said Seth. "As for the book itself, it's called ¨Itcha Itcha Paradise¨. I tripped on it a long time ago. Picked it up and found out I could read it since it was in Braille. It isn't really my kind of book, but since there's so few books in Braille, I couldn't exactly throw it away," explained Seth. "I read it 2 or 3 times, since I had nothing to do," explained Seth., blushing slightly. Mel was too surprised by her new discovery to notice. "Anyway, I mean no offence, but you should probably take a bath," said Seth. The gasp that followed made Seth understand she was listening to him now.

* * *

The Defenders' campsite…

Everyone was getting more worried about Mel as the time went on and on without any sign from her, either telling them she was okay or that she was mad at them. But as optimistic as they were, they were not to let themselves think like that.

"She probably can't send Draykor because she'd be completely alone in the swamp," said Adam, trying to reassure the rest of his team. Erik nodded vigorously, believing it all the way. But it was different matter for Kara, who had her pigtails cast down on her head. Out of the 3 of them, she was probably the more worried, because not only was she worried about Mel, but also about her guardian, V-Moth. Adam put a hand on her shoulder, and she looked up at him.

"Don't worry," he started, smiling warmly. "I'm sure they're both fine and on their way here," he reassured her. She smiled, her pigtails coming back to their usual state. And as if to prove it, she made a surprised face, pointing being Erik.

"Erik! A venomous spider!" she yelled.

* * *

Side of the Yothma Woods…

Seth was prepared to shoot stones at a deer he found. He was about to shoot his attack, when a scream made the deer lift its head and get away. Seth sighed in annoyance.

"Why," he started. "is it that every time I actually need to get meat, someone scares a girl and makes her scream," he continued, connecting the high-pitched scream to one of a girl. He went back to getting something to eat.

* * *

Back to the Defenders' camp…

Erik sneezed. Kara automatically came jumping on him, to make sure he was alright.

"Did you caught a cold?" she asked, her head slightly turned to the side. Erik didn't like the way she looked at him. It usually meant trouble him. Adam saved him.

"Actually, Kara, I read in a book at the dojo that you sneezes when someone talks about you," he said. Kara brightened up instantly.

"That means someone is saying good things about Erik right?" she asked. Adam decided to play a little.

"Not necessarily. It only means someone is talking about him. It doesn't mean it's something nice," explained Adam, to Kara's amusement.

"Ha ha, really funny Adam," sarcastically said Erik, looking annoyed. Oh, well, at least they weren't worrying about Melosa anymore.

* * *

Seth's hideout…

Mel walked out of the bathroom, which she found was quite comfortable. After some explanations, Seth had convinced her to take a bath while he went to get some food. She would have argued more than she did, but the events of the day made her accept rather easily. She was now dressed in a spare set of clothing, while her usual one was to be cleaned. She hadn't understood how Seth said he would though.

Anyway, she was now headed to the table, thanks to the makeshift crutches Seth had. She put them next to her as she sat on a chair. She looked at the set of fruits in front of her with round eyes; she was so hungry… She looked around, looking for anyone, then quickly snatched an apple. She took a big bite of it… only to almost choke on it and its bitter taste.

She swallowed the bite with a disgusted expression, and looked at the apple, which looked normal to her. Snickers made her head turn toward the entrance, where Seth stood, fruits in a basket in a hand and what looked like little animals in the other basket in his other hand. She narrowed her eyes.

"Why are you laughing?" she asked. "And why are those fruits so…" she didn't finished her sentence. He made his way toward her and put the fruits basket in front of her.

"First, if you're hungry, eat these," he started. She carefully took one and took a bite, her eyes shutting in delight at the great taste of the sweet apple. "These are not decorative," Seth finished, smiling at Mel's sudden stop of movements. Her eyes turned toward him. He could read her question in her eyes. "After a while, these fruits looses any good taste, but keep their healthy appearance. I just didn't have time to change them lately," explained Seth. Mel paled. She had just eaten a bite of rotten fruit. Not good. "You won't get sick though. They're not poisonous," finished Seth, before bringing the basket with ex-living animals toward where she supposed he would make their food.

_End of Chapter_

* * *

Okay. Since I just found out this in my longest chapter, I decided to stop it here. That's about it. Don't forget to leave your thoughts on this chapter. Also, there were some other things on this chapter that I couldn't put because this damn document editing won't let me, or rather will delete them as soon as I save. 


	5. Chapter Four : Battle of the Monastery

_**Fallen Hero**_

Rael: Yep, it's me again. Admit it, you all waited for this chapter.

Seth: -chokes back laughter-

Rael: -glares-

Mel: -sweatdrops-

Kara: -puts spiders in Erik's sleeping bag-

Erik: -prepares foo-- WHAT?!

Adam: Rael owns nothing.

**_Warning: This chapter contains violence (Blood, physical wounds), curses and Flinch_**

* * *

_**In the previous chapter…**_

"First, if you're hungry, eat these," he started. She carefully took one and took a bite, her eyes shutting in delight at the great taste of the sweet apple. "These are not decorative," Seth finished, smiling at Mel's sudden stop of movements. Her eyes turned toward him. He could read her question in her eyes, even with his blindness. "After a while, these fruits loose any good taste, but keep their healthy appearance. I just didn't have time to change them lately," explained Seth. Mel paled. She had just eaten a bite of rotten fruit. Not good. "You won't get sick though. They're not poisonous," finished Seth, before bringing the basket with ex-living animals toward where she supposed he would make their food.

* * *

**_Chapter 4: Battle of the Monastery_**

_Seth's hideout.._

This was heaven, and she almost didn't want to leave this place. Aside from the fact that her ankle was still slightly making her suffer, she simply loved this placed. It was calm, simple and, the best of all, Seth was acting as her personal servant. Well… not really, but she still had everything she needed when she needed it.

She had only been one day and a night here, but she loved the care, though she was too proud to admit it. But still, she couldn't help but enjoy every second where she didn't have to bother over anything.

She had found out the night prior that Seth was a great cook. She had never really tasted anything else than pre-made food, back in the dojo, so it was a new experience for her when Seth had put a plate with a roasted piece of meat in front of her. Its simple smell had made her drool slightly. No need to say that it hadn't stayed long in her plate.

Then came the clothes. Since hers were not in a state where she could wear them, Seth had lent her a special set of clothes he said he kept for special occasions. But she didn't thought it would be what it was; White, stylish _silk_. Just thinking about it made her rub the collar against her neck unconsciously.

The entertainment followed soon after. Seth was not a very talkative person, she couldn't do anything about that. On the other end, she found out he had a little bookshelf with normal books. Not that she'd have time to read one completely, but they were all interesting, and she had chosen one, with which she read herself to sleep.

Her general opinion of the place was, as stated earlier, a paradise. But every good thing must come to an end, she thought sadly, as she saw Seth enter the room, with her clothes, freshly cleaned, in his hands. She gave an unconscious tug to her actual clothing, which she would soon have to part with. Seth walked to her, setting the blue clothes beside her on the couch-like pile of cushions. That was also a thing she liked about this place.

"We'll leave when you are ready to go," he said calmly, before turning his back to her and walking toward another room. She couldn't help the pout that came to her face. He stopped in the doorway to the room, thinking. "And if you want, I guess you can keep the clothes I lent you. You seem to like silk anyway," he finished, smirking slightly at the slight rise of temperature on the girl's cheeks, who was obviously blushing.

* * *

_With the defenders…_

"Come back here you blue furball!" yelled both Erik and Adam at the small thief, who was running away from them, a bag full of food, their food, on his shoulder.

* * *

_Amos-Yan… _

Flinch was quickly getting annoyed, as he threw the 14th fake key to the ground behind him, while Malco raised his fist at another unfortunate enough monk to have crossed their road.

* * *

_Outside Seth's hideout… _

As her ankle still hadn't properly healed yet, Mel was being carried by Seth, who was about to open a portal for Amos-Yan.

* * *

_Nazmul's Keep…_

Brackus was wondering if he should dye his hair brown when…

"What are you doing here?! Devastation of Infinis!"

… when the cameraman lost his hand and was thus unable to film anymore.

* * *

_Amos-Yan Monastery…_

A blue and black portal opened in front of the gates of the monastery. Out came 2 people, one being carried the other. Both looked in shock, well, one did, the other only had a slight frown at the smoke sent, among other things, at the broken down and burning wooden gates of the monastery.

"Something's not right," said Seth. For a moment, Mel forgot his blindness.

"Not right?! The monastery's under attack!" she yelled, looking at him. Then she remembered his handicap. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell…" she said, worried she had hurt him.

"Now's not the time to worry about such things. We'll talk about it later if you still want to, but for the moment, let's focus on the task at hand," said Seth.

"You're right. Let's go," agreed Mel, and Seth carefully stepped through the bashed entrance.

* * *

_A few miles away form the monastery…_

The defenders continued to run, now through a field of wheat, still following the little blue thief.

"Come back here!" yelled Adam. _First Mel falls down that bridge and we haven't heard of her for a day and a half, and now, this thing comes and steals our food. This is just great_, thought Adam bitterly. Erik's thoughts were about the same. Kara, obvious to their thoughts, continued to laugh at their predicament as she continued to follow her brother and her friend.

* * *

_Somewhere else…_

"… and then… the… the mean mister just… t-threw stones at me… and then… it was… really pain… painful in my arm… and it had turned to… t-to rock!" yelled, between sobs, the now one-handed cameraman to his mother.

* * *

_Amos-Yan monastery…_

Seth quietly rounded another corner, the hands of the blue-eyed girl he carried glowing. Knowing he couldn't cast stones with her in his arms, she had prepared herself to shoot attacks. She looked around the room.

"It's safe," she sighed. "But there's no doubt a battle was going on here," she continued.

"Is there a staircase?" asked Seth, surprising her. She looked around nonetheless.

"Yes, in the corner of the room," she answered. "Why?"

"Chances are if they're finished with this floor, they'll go higher. And if they just went through this one to finish the floor before coming back here to go higher, then we'll just set traps," he explained.

"It makes sense," agreed Melosa. Seth began a rush for the stairs, easily jumping above the fallen pillars or rubbles in the way. Mel wondered if he was really blind.

* * *

_Another location in the monastery…_

Malco and Flinch encountered a group of monks, and all of them, upon seeing them, went into a battle stance.

"Go back to where you came from! We won't hesitate to attack!" yelled a monk. Flinch laughed.

"Oh the irony," he began, "That's EXACTLY, word for word, what the 3 last groups we saw told us," he continued, seeing the faltering look in their eyes." Right before we knocked each one of them unconscious!" he finished with a smirk. "Malco! You know what to do," he added in a smug voice. The giant next to him smiled evilly.

"AAAAAAH" he yelled as he charged fists first. A series of punches and kicks could be heard for the following minutes, as long as cries of pain.

* * *

_Back with Seth and Mel…_

Seth and Mel managed to make it to the fifth floor safely, encountering only unconscious bodies. At least, nobody was dead. The two came across a long corridor, multiple doors on each sides of it. Seth quickly made his way to the other end, only to stop at the end. He carefully peeked around, though it was more for Mel to see, as he only needed to hear it. She let out a small gasp, her eyes growing wide.

"He's huge…" she said, staring at the back of the Order of Infinis' most faithful follower. Unfortunately for them, the small gasp got the attention of the powerful man, as he turned around, only to see nothing suspicious. But he thought it to be a good idea to investigate.

"Malco! Where are you going?!" whined the much smaller man, clearly irritated. That sentence ringed an alarm in Seth, who had turned quickly around the corner, putting a hand over her mouth, supporting her with only one arm now.

He quickly set his enhanced hearing to work, spotted the doors, and rushed for them. He tried the first knob, but the door was locked. He tried the second, then the third, and the fourth, only to find them locked as well. Time was running out. His luck finally kicked in as he found out that the fifth wasn't locked. He opened it as quickly and quietly as he could, before rushing in the room.

The _room_, though, turned out to be a small closet. Not thinking twice, he held Mel tighter against him as he shifted into the closet, before closing the door behind. Both waited in apprehension as slow, loud steps made their way through the corridor. They stopped at the end, before turning back and going back to where they came from. The two teens waited 10 minutes after they couldn't hear Malco's footsteps.

"We're safe," finally breathed Mel in relief. Then, their current situation came back to both of them. Both blushed at their closeness. Seth quickly opened the door and stepped out. Before she had time to realize, she was being set back on the floor in the closet, though in a more comfortable way. "What are you-…" she started, before Seth cut her off.

"You saw this man. There's no way, in your current situation, that you could help me against him. As it is now, you'd probably be more of a hindrance," he stated. Her anger flared up.

"A hindrance?! Who are you to talk!" she yelled, but soon wished she didn't, as guilt fell over her. First she forgot that he was blind, and now, she used it against him. Before she had time to say anything else, he quickly spoke.

"We'll talk about this later. Now be a good girl and shut up," he told her, rather coldly. She couldn't muster the will to speak back. He closed the door on her, letting her fall in the darkness. A second later, though, any thoughts about her following him anyway were crushed as she heard him whisper something, and soon after it, the door was frozen solid.

* * *

_Other side of the door…_

"Ice wall!" yelled Seth, throwing a Yan warrior stone along with 1 Infinis and 1 Sum booster stones. The door and its frame froze instantly, the Yan sigil etched all over it. Seth's hand slightly brushed against the cold "wall", and satisfied with the result, he took a sprint toward where he assumed Malco went.

He quickly reached the same room Mel and he were spotted. He listened intently, and hearing nothing, he turned his head around the corner. Hearing better, and nothing, he sprinted toward the staircase he knew was there, and quickly got to the sixth floor.

He quickly hid behind a pillar, before sensing a presence near him. He made as if nothing, trying to deduce whether it was friendly or soon to be unconscious. He let out a sigh when found out it was a non-hostile person that was trying to creep up on him. He turned around quickly and put a hand on the person's mouth, who would've let out a yelp if he hadn't. He retracted his hand once the surprise faded.

"Who are you?" let out the feminine and slightly cold voice. He waited for a bit, still trying to look for any nearby threat, before answering.

"It's only politeness to introduce yourself before asking for someone's identity," said Seth, looking toward her with closed eyes. He could feel her annoyance. That alone was enough for him to visualise what kind of person he was dealing with.

"My name is Ailaena," said the woman to the teenager. "I'm the Great Priestess and I'm keeping the key," she said.

"My name's Seth," said Seth. "I'm here to help the Defenders," said Seth. The Great Priestess narrowed her eyes.

"The Defenders? From what I know, they shouldn't be here for at least a day," said Ailaena. She clearly doubted his words.

"I said I was here to help them, I didn't say they were here too. I'm faster than them is all," finally said Seth, before making a motion to move. He was, however, stopped by her grabbing his arm through his cloak.

"I clearly doubt you, but someone once told me about someone named like you whom I should trust. I'm probably going to regret this, but come with me. I'll lead you to the key," she said, before dragging him through the corridor. 2 eyes made their appearances in the shadows of a corner.

* * *

_Later on…_

After going through various corridors and up 3 staircases, they finally made it in front of 2 big wooden doors. Seth had his arms released shortly after they began to head here. She was reluctant due to his previous actions, but the glare she was sure he sent her through his closed eyelids was enough for her to let go.

Using some kind of spell, she moved her hand toward the door, which opened. They both walked in the large room, before the door closed on itself. They walked further in the room, until they came across a pedestal, where the precious key laid, surrounded by a force field.

Seth reached his hand to the force field, his touch sending a little wave across it. He retracted his hand.

"So that's the key, heh?" he asked, intentionally adding a somehow evil tone to his voice, but only enough to be hardly caught. The other person in the room's eyes narrowed furthermore. _Good thing this isn't the real key_, she thought. _I can feel the malice in his voice_, she continued..

"Yes, it is," she said, and started to raise her hand when a loud bang came crashing the door. She flinched, while Seth narrowed his own eyes. He hoped he'd let her open the force field before "crashing the party". The idiot. Not that he cared.

While he was thinking, the door was being destroyed, bits by bits, until it finally crashed down, revealing a giant shadow. As it jumped toward them, it became evident that it was Malco. The giant landed 40 feet away from them.

"Malco," hissed Ailaena. "He followed us here," she continued, before looking suspiciously at the calm teen next to her. He was too calm. She quickly put some distance between them, and went to hide behind a pillar. She was somehow relieved when the boy continued to stare in Malco's general direction. Suddenly, Seth grabbed stones out of his holster, or whatever it was, since it was hidden under his cloak.

"Light Dome!" yelled Seth, throwing 5 shield stones, 1 Altas, 1 Yan, 1 Sum, 1 Nega and 1 Infinis. A henge formed, and Seth was soon in some kind of white half sphere, assumed to be his shield. The hidden person frowned, and managed not to sweatdrop. _5 shield stones? His attacks are going to be completely useless, even more against him. The battle's going to be long, but horribly one-sided_, she thought.

Malco grinned, and his hands lit with purple flames. With a roar, he jumped in the air, spun around himself, and shot the 4 stones in his hands, 1 Yin warrior stone and 3 Dako booster stones, toward Seth. The stones' sigils fused, forming the henge that soon turned into some kind of giant ball of fire. _Meteor…_, thought Seth, smirking. His hand was already glowing red under his cloak.

The attack collided with the white dome, and to Malco and Ailaena's surprise, it bounced back toward Malco. Said giant had to jump to the side, too proud to be hit by his own attack, even if he could have without much damage. As he landed, his eyes fell on the stones Seth just threw.

"Ice Ground!" he yelled, as the Yan warrior stone and the 2 Yan booster stones fused, before rushing to the floor. The moment it hit, the floor shined, before turning completely to a flawless ice surface. Malco had trouble not slipping. "Yan Blades!" he yelled again, gaining both the 2 slipping people in the room's attention. A Yan warrior stone with 1 Dako and 1 Yin booster stones fused, forming razor sharp blades, which seemed to come out of the ice. The 3 blades headed quickly toward Malco.

Seeing this, Malco put his arm in front of him in defence. The impact was hard, and when he opened his eyes again, both his hands and forearms were frozen in a thick ice. It'd take some time to get it off.

Ailaena was shocked. His attacks were strong and fast. He even had Malco disabled in 2 attacks. How was it possible? The boy had used 5 shield stones. His attacks were supposed to be useless. She decided she'd ask him later. 1 thing was sure though; she didn't want to be in his bad side. Someone able to pull that off was not to be messed with.

Seth wanted to finish this quickly. Taking other stones, he closed his hand on them, pulling his arm out of the cloak. Malco looked at it, curious. Soon, he, himself, was shocked to see the hand close as if there was nothing in it, but Seth opened it again, slightly.

The red glow that had covered his hand began to quickly expend, forming a longer shape on the top of his hand, while it stopped after a few inches under it. The form began to be more precise, until, under their shocked eyes, it gave off a flash, before there was no longer a red glow, but a sword in the hand of the blind boy, sigils carved all over it. He brought the sword behind him and, before they could blink, he dashed off toward Malco.

Said target quickly regained control of his body, and, crashing his hands on the floor, finally broke the ice. He used his forearm shields again, and blocked the attack, which was as hard as the first, though how the boy could be so strong was a mystery. He quickly pushed him back, not wanting to fall in a trap again.

Malco looked at his forearm shields, only to find them slightly encased in ice. His eyes widened slightly; hadn't he pushed Seth back, the ice would've crept up his arms, probably dealing more damage than before. Feeling his hands becoming slightly number due to the cold, he took 1 Dako warrior and 1 Dako booster stones and used them. Soon, his hand began to burn slightly, not arming him in the least, until they were completely engulfed in flames. He smiled, before rushing at Seth.

He threw a punch to the head, which Seth evaded by crouching, before trying to slash horizontally at Malco's stomach, attempt that failed as Malco jumped backward slightly, the tip of the sword 1 inch away from touching him. He quickly tried a kick, and was surprised when he actually managed to hit Seth to the side, sending him rushing into a wall, as Malco had put all his force in the kick.

_How come his shield didn't block that attack?,_ thought Ailaena with a frown, as she watched Seth quickly stand up from the spot he had fell to from where he had crashed against the wall.

Seth clutched his right side tightly. D_amn, he sure kicks hard_, thought Seth, before coughing some blood. _If I don't evade, or at least block his attacks, I'm done for_, he continued

_I shouldn't have used that shield… It's not good in melee combat… And I can't cast another one or my Di-Gata attacks are going to be too weak… And that man would probably figure it out quickly, and would return to those kinds of attacks, and a melee shield is not good for Di-Gata attacks… damn…_

His thoughts were broken as Seth barely avoided a punch directed at his stomach. Malco's hand embedded itself into the wall as Seth jumped over it to avoid. He landed in a crouched position on his arm, before using a foot to launch himself at his face, landing a hard knee on his nose. Malco stumbled back, and Seth used his other leg to put his foot on Malco's shoulder before doing a back flip and landing perfectly on the still frozen floor.

Malco didn't have that chance, and the additional push from Seth's back flip sent him slipping to the ice, landing hard and painfully enough to scatter the spot under him, thus adding sharp shards to the pain. The giant rose back, ready to return the favour, if his raised fists and… _curious_ stance were any indications. He charged.

Seth's right hand was still firmly holding the sword. Soon, blood would be spilled again. With that in mind, Seth also took a dash at Malco, though he was faster. Much faster. A barely avoided slice from behind his back convinced Malco not to hold _anything_ back.

* * *

_Lower levels…_

Mel was really angry right now. Not only had he locked her in a closet, but he was also, from the faint, yet present noise she could hear, duelling the giant. Perhaps even the person to which the other voice belonged to.

She didn't know which was actually the worst in her list, but she would yell at him the moment she saw him again. That was, of course, until a small, yet scary thought crossed her mind. That was _if_ she saw him again.

Trying not to think about it, she focused on something else. Soon her friends came to her mind. How were they doing? Kara was probably making fun of Erik or worrying about her and V-Moth. Erik, as of him, was probably working on one of his "genial" inventions, as usual.

Then, Adam's face came to her mind. Knowing him, he probably worried about her, though he would also hide it the best he could, which she, herself, would have trouble seeing through. He would lead the others here. He'd probably make a good plan given the state of the monastery and the position he was in, and they'd come in to find… What?

What would they find? All she saw were unconscious bodies of fallen monks who'd probably take some time to heal. They would only find that; unconscious monks and ruins. No, she couldn't think that. They were probably other monks in here who had been wise enough to get out of the way. To keep her mind off these thoughts, she began to hum slightly.

* * *

_Near the monastery…_

Adam's nerves were threatening to let loose as he continued to run after the stealing blue _runt_, as he affectingly grew to call the damn furball, part of his mind worrying about Mel. Suddenly, he sneezed. That was enough as he lost balance and fell in the mud. He got up with a curse.

"You're going to pay for it!" he yelled, running after the Zad faster than before. Both the brother and sister laughed at him from being.

* * *

_Back with __the great priestess Ailaena… _

Ailaena watched in shock as the opponents fought each other in nothing less than an all-out fist/sword fight, in which the fists were strong enough to stop the blade. At least, enough not to cut the whole hand, judging by the thin lines of blood over Malco's hands.

Seth managed a horizontal slash on Malco's back, earning a yelp of pain from Malco and blood from the newly formed wound. Malco spun on himself, catching the teen off-guard by the hand and throwing him into another pillar, which fell under the shock, falling on the landing spot of Seth.

The dust left the ground, only to be blown away by a gust of wind as Seth quickly stood up and lunged at Malco, blade pointed toward him. Malco barely evaded the attack again. The ice on the floor was, or so it seems, helping him move the few inches he needed to avoid the attacks, and he was thankful for it.

Seeing the teen's back pass right by him, Malco quickly brought his elbow on Seth's back, sending him to the ground, sliding a few meters before stopping. He got up slowly, leaning slightly on his sword to stand up.

A sudden coughing fit saw itself awarded in Seth's blood as it made its way out of his lungs to the ground. The sword wasn't enough to hold him up as he fell to his knees, sword falling slightly to the side, as he continued to cough blood.

Malco smirked. God he was tired. But it paid in the end. The key was behind him, ready to be stolen, and the toughest opponent he had ever had was in front of him, choking with his own blood, most probably feeling the weight of humiliation on him.

He was about to turn back to get the key when the coughs stopped. He looked at the teen to see him stand up. He was barely managing to do so, but it only showed a strong spirit.

"I didn't think I'd have to use it," suddenly said Seth, relaxing greatly for the condition he was in. Malco and Ailaena narrowed their eyes in anticipation. Seth seemed to ruffle through his cloak, until he seemed to have found what he was looking for. "Ha, there! I'm not really sorry, but in any case, it's game over, Malco," were Seth's word, as he took out his bloodied hand, the bluish Nova henge brightly shinning on the darker blue stone now in Seth's hand.

Malco and Ailaena's eyes widened, in shock, fear and amazement, before the stone disappeared into Seth's hand, engulfing it in red flame-like light. He brought his hand back, his long-forgotten sword disappearing to give its user a boost of energy back to focus. The stones appeared into whatever he kept his stones in.

"Nova stone!" he yelled, shooting his arm forward, though he kept the stone in his hand. The blue energy spiralling around his arm suddenly shot forward, and as a canon bullet, the stone was shot forward, shooting Seth backward against the side of the entrance.

The lucidity left in his head was enough for him to understand that he couldn't control what he just unleashed in his state, so he simply let himself slide down the wall to the ground, where he could've have been mistaken to "watch" the show.

Malco's wide eyes met the immense amount of energy, as he was soon shot across the room and toward the wall of the room, which soon turned into nothing as Malco collided with it, making it collapse as he continued his "flight" for a few meters until he was catapulted further when the blue energy suddenly stopped. It let out a wave or two of energy, before the Nova henge flashed, and the energy dissipated.

Ailaena's gaze flashed to where she had seen Seth hit the wall, but her eyes only met the blood on the wall and the ground. But what she noticed was a small trail of blood leaving the room. She stood up, trying to regain her balance when she found out the successive waves of energy from the attacks and the Nova stone had also taken their toll on her, even though she wasn't part of the battle.

"Such power…," she wondered out loud, before hearing footsteps where the key, which had been blasted in Seth's last attack, was. She looked carefully around the pillar to see a small man, much smaller than Malco, looking at the remnants of the key. He whined.

"Oh, great. What will I do now that mister muscle destroyed the key? Well, there's nothing to stay here for. I might as well try to find that monkey," said Flinch, before casting his guardian. "Dreadcrow, Manifest!" he yelled, before the scarecrow-like guardian appeared.

It divided, under Flinch's command, into 2 crows, each one taking a hold of Flinch's shoulders before flying away to find Malco. Ailaena smiled to herself. At least, that'd give them some time if they thought that the key was no more. Her thoughts came back to Seth. She had to find him before he ran out of blood.

* * *

_Seth…_

After what seemed like an eternity to him, Seth finally came across a corridor with a door covered in ice with 3 sigils etched all over the surface. He walked painfully toward the door, and reached it rather quickly. He slowly extended his hand for it, and it rested on the cold spell soon enough.

It shone a bright white light, before it disappeared, the stones used for it landing in his open hand. He put them with his other stones and opened the door. Inside, Mel blinked repetitively to try to get used to the sudden light.

"Seth!" she yelled. Seth didn't have the force to wince under the decibels. "Why the hell did you do that to me, you… you…," she started, but only then noticed the small pool of blood that was slowly growing at his feet.

She gasped, and before anything else could be done, the small smile he had faltered as he fell to the ground with a thud. She quickly removed a glove to check for his pulse, and was slightly relieved when she found it, though it was low. But now, at least, she could get help.

"Draykor! Sub-Zero!" she yelled, and the small dragon shot out of her amulet. "Go find somebody to help us!" she ordered her friend, before said friend took off to get help. She looked back down at the unconscious Seth, now with his head resting on her knees.

* * *

_15 minutes later…_

Draykor came back with 3 monks, who had no injuries. She was right; some had indeed been wise enough to hide. Mel was shaken out of her thoughts as the first 2 monks readied a stretcher, and Seth was carefully put onto it. The last monk helped Mel stand up and get to the infirmary of the monastery.

It was, again, minutes later that they came across a room filled with more or less injured monks. The Great Priestess was among the medics. As soon as she spotted the boy, she pointed at him, and immediately, several medics came rushing at them.

They took Seth, and carried him to another room, while she was left on a bed to rest. She quickly went to sleep, the sooner she'd sleep the sooner she'd wake up.

* * *

_The defenders…_

Adam, along with the others, heard the blast caused by the Nova stone in the distance. They all stopped momentarily.

"What was that?" asked Kara, somehow excited to get into action. Erik looked up from his gauntlet.

"That was a massive Di-Gata energy release. Whatever caused it is more powerful than the Warrior Henge," said Erik to the 2 other shocked people.

"More powerful than even the Warrior Henge…" quietly repeated Adam, thoughtful. The rock he received to the head quickly returned his attention to the runt. "Wait until I catch you, you damn furball!" cursed Adam, and they resumed their chase.

_**End of Chapter **_

I decided that I'd end this here. 13-14 pages of text. Not bad I guess. Also, sorry for the crappy sound effect of Malco's voice, and if something in how the text are (bold, italic, etc.) or how the paragraphes and such are divided, then blame this site's document manager who suppresses about any things I put on it. Also blame it if you see "flour" instead of "floor". Well, don't forget to leave me a comment. And I mean it. Don't forget… Well, until next time, have a good life. Also, I'll have reference pictures soon enough, I hope. I still need to draw one, and to edit a few others.


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